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Researchers Begin Four-City Study
of Hispanics and Alcohol
Researchers began face-to-face interviews in January with Mexican Americans, Puerto Rican Americans, Cuban Americans and people from South or Central America to gather information related to alcohol use and associated problems such as drinking and driving. The interviews are part of a five-year study funded by a $4.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The study, based at The University of Texas School of Public Health at Houston, will examine differences in rates of alcohol-related problems across four Hispanic national groups in four major urban areas: New York City, Houston, Miami and Los Angeles.
Raul Caetano, M.D., Ph.D.
Information collected from interviews with 6,000 people will be used to help develop intervention and prevention strategies.
"Results from this study will fill a major gap in epidemiology among U.S. Hispanics," said principal investigator Raul Caetano, M.D., Ph.D., professor of epidemiology and assistant dean of the Dallas regional campus of the UT School of Public Health. "The study is very important because learning more about these differences will allow us to implement better prevention and treatment for the individuals in these groups."
Guy Parcel, Ph.D., dean of the School of Public Health, said, "Major research grants such as this - which is the largest single-study, single-site NIH grant ever received at one of our four regional campuses - further establishes the importance of addressing the public health needs of the Hispanic population of Texas and our nation."
Researchers from Temple University Institute for Survey Research will use a survey to ask respondents, 18 years of age and older, about alcohol consumption, drinking patterns, attitudes about drunkenness, arrests for driving under the influence and other alcohol- related arrests.
Interviewees will be randomly selected and will be surveyed in their own homes.
By David R. Bates, Public Affairs